I was run over by a London bus in April 2007. My mother, Elizabeth, lost her life, and my daughter Pollyanna, who was two at the time, lost her right leg below the knee. There are no words to describe the horror; but now, through our charity Elizabeth's Legacy of Hope, we try to help amputees in developing countries who don't have beautifully made legs like Pollyanna's.

Without Pollyanna, I would never have set up the charity. She has opened up my eyes to the difficulties of amputation. Pollyanna is a beautiful, bright, vibrant little girl who, despite her terrible injuries, now has a normal and wonderful life. She has a normal prosthetic limb, and even a running blade, which people think is very cool.

My surgeon, Simon Eccles, who is also a patron of the charity, has looked after both Pollyanna and me for nearly six years. He told me about the Jaipur limb [an artificial leg developed in India], and said we had enough money to set up a clinic. That was the conversation that set me off trying to help children in developing countries.

As we've grown, we've realised that it's not just about providing a limb: it's a holistic project, training people to fit the limbs and replace them properly. A Jaipur foot costs £30, but there are lots of extra costs that go with it.

It's incredible that we've been able to do this, but I felt very deeply I wanted other children to be able to walk, jump, skip, dance, and play like Pollyanna.

The reason they don't is that there's no money to make limbs. Or they live too far away, and can't get to the rehabilitation centres.

A growing child needs a new limb every six months. Pollyanna has a little friend in Sierra Leone called Mariatu, who's ten. She lost her leg to a landmine when she was two, and only ever had one prosthetic leg. She has been bent double formany years because the prosthetic leg was too short.It's probably better not to have a leg than completely the wrong one. She is a typical example of the children we arenow helping. She now has a new limb, and that means she can go to school. And she is smiling, too.

Most of the children, if they're amputees, are deemed not worthy of an education. We aim to give them limbs so they can go to school and have a normal life. The attitude towards them is terrible. Amputees are often treated as outcasts. We want to try to help them feel postively about themselves.

Our next project in Liberia is to try to fund an amputee football team. This will bring the amputees to-gether to have fun. If that works, we can take it to other countries. We would very much like to get professional football teams involved.

We always team up with other charities, like Street Child of Sierra Leone. The Halo Trust is responsible for clearing landmines, but doesn't provide limbs; so we are in touch with them.

The limbs are made in the countries that we help. We try to employ local people as much as possible.

We have a limb centre in Kagera, on the shores of Lake Victoria; and a school for the disabled in Dar es Salaam in Tanzania; and we have 100 beneficiaries in Sierra Leone. We're looking at projects in Liberia, Southern Sudan, and India. I believe they're all achievable.

It is quite hard to set up a charity. You need to have trustees, and fill out long forms, and it takes a little while. I'm not very good at this sort of thing.

As a child, I was desperate to be a Blue Peter presenter. I used to be a cook, and a teacher, and even a drama student. I set up a cookery business, teaching three-to-five-year-olds how to cook - all a bit different from running a charity.

I'm helped by a friend, Kevin Craig, from Political Lobbying & Media Relations (PLMR), who kindly set up the charity from his office; so we have very small overheads.

I went to see our projects in Sierra Leone last year, with my husband Christopher, my son, Barnaby, aged 12, my daughter Sapphire, ten, and Pollyanna, now seven. It was very hard to see the children's faces: some are so traumatised by the civil war that they just cannot smile at all. They've witnessed their families' being murdered, and they have been injured, and never had any help. They live in pain.

I was running a half-marathon there in the desperate heat and humidity. There was also a 5k run, and the highlight was the fact that all my children decided the day before to run the 5k, though they didn't even have proper trainers. Pollyanna ran it all the way on her crutches.

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We also carried the Paralympic Torch last year, which was a fabulous experience; and Kevin Craig carried the Olympic Torch; so that was incredible, too. It all raised awareness of the charity just before the Olympics.

The constant fund-raising is hard work. It's disappointing when you think someone is going to help you and give you money, and then you don't get it, and have to start all over again. But we mustn't be despondent; I think it is the same for all charities. A school for children with mobility problems is doing a sports day for us soon. I am very moved that disabled children in this country want to help amputees abroad.

I really would like to work with a lot more schools. Children get so excited if I take in a Jaipur limb or the Paralympic torch. We can do really fun presentations, and can involve Paralympians, too. Children are always amazed to see someone with a running blade.

I can't say that running a charity assuages the grief. That will always be there. The accident should never have happened, but it did happen. It is only right that Elizabeth should have this wonderful legacy. She was always helping people: it is just what she did. She would be amazed to know that, by her loss, we are helping so many people.

Yes, my family is everything to me. My twin sister, Victoria, and her two little boys, Rollo and Ranulph, are as important to me as my own. Rollo was only two days old when the accident happened: we were on our way to hospital to visit them. Victoria co-founded the charity and helps all the time. Her hus-band, Richard Bacon MP, is a patron. My husband is a trustee.

My mother is still a huge influence in my life. She was calm, sensible, quiet, hardworking, but fun and giggly. My father, on the other hand, was a bit crazy. He tried not to take life too seriously, but he was very sad after the accident.

My father died recently, and it has been a difficult time. But he left me his entire collection of Anthony Trollope novels, and I just adore them.

I met an amazing woman called Susie Howe recently, who wrote Resistance Fighter. She has a charity called the Bethany Children's Trust, and she goes to fight the injustice of the poorest of the poor, spending time in the jungles of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Northern Uganda, and the back streets of Manila, among others. And Rhidian Brook wrote a book and a film called Africa United, about some orphans in Africa who try totravel to the World Cup. It is all about AIDS, too. Everyone should see it.

I like somewhere hot for holidays. I love to practise my French, too. And I would like to visit our future project in India.

Some pop songs remind me of really happy times. Beautiful music such as Fauré's or Mozart's Requiems also stir me. Without music, life would be terrible.

I love and adore Isaiah 35, verses 1 to 10. I read this passage at St Margaret's, Westminster, for my father's thanksgiving service. I do find the Psalms quite heavy going sometimes.

I get angry over the injustice in the world. And I get cross if people complain about stupid things. People in this country have so much. It only costs £30 to provide a Jaipur limb; so I get cross when people spend too much money on stuff they don't really need - and it's even worse when they complain about it. I wish as a country we could all be more thankful for what we have rather than worry about what we don't have.

I love to go out with a bunch of girlfriends; and I love to go to a wonderful party. I also love to lie in on Saturday mornings for a bit, knowing all my children are still in bed, having a rest from this crazy but wonderful life we lead.

I have found it hard to pray since the accident. But I pray that God will keep my family safe. Pollyanna sometimes prays that there will be no more amputees in the world, and we pray that with her.

I'd choose to be locked in a church with Jesus. We could have a chat, and I'd ask him why the world is such a complicated place. I'd like to say thank you to him for the good things, too.

Sarah Hope was talking to Terence Handley MacMath.
www.elizabethslegacyofhope.org